Monday, 9 June 2014

BIRTH OF A NATION

D.W GRIFFITH
USA/1915/B&W/Silent/110Mts.

The American Civil War (1861- 1864) between the Northern States and southern States, was fought on the issue of Slavery in USA. Abraham Lincoln, president of America, was anti-slavery and was shot dead by a southerner, after the victory of the forces of emancipation of slavery. This was followed by difficult period of political instability in which the newly "liberated" Blacks harried the former rich whites retaliated against them by organising the Ku Klax Klan (KKK) a secret society of white-hooded men.

A southerner himself, Griffith showed strong leanings on racism in BIRTH OF A NATION, and the film ran into strong political opposition from the Blacks and liberals in America.

This films tells the story of two families, one from the South and another from the North going through all this ordeal of American history. This film also contains a dramatic reconstruction of many historical moments, for example, the murder of Abraham Lincoln.

D.W Griffith is considered by the film historians as the 'Father of Cinema' who worked on almost 500 shot films, through which he developed the language of cinema. He later made a number of epics, stupendous example of film making for the time, many remaining fo interest even today.